Gaming is the latest rumor to have attracted attention. Currently you can play Solitaire, Brick, Parachute, and Music Quiz, but the chance to download games to the iPod hasn't been considered -- until now. Rumors swept the market last week that Digital River, an e-commerce outsource provider, was negotiating to allow games to be brought to the media player. So powerful were the rumors that they sent Digital River's stock soaring 10% on the day, as it has been developing its technology to allow for the download of any content, games or otherwise, to any device.
It would certainly be a challenge to other game handhelds if Apple entered the fray. Rumors already abound that Digital River could cement a deal by February with leading game makers such as Electronic Arts or Activision to begin selling their games through online downloads. It is viewed as the next advance in having games reach increasingly greater numbers of people.
The types of games that would be available would initially be limited because of the size of the iPod's memory. But as memory size begins to expand -- it could rise to as large as 1 gigabyte if the flash iPod rumor proves true -- more complex or advanced games could certainly become part of the library.
Neither Apple nor Digital River has commented on the speculation, and some analysts question the veracity of the rumor, since Apple's iTunes has been at the forefront of the mill and the company has been able to handle the transactions for music itself thus far.
Still, Apple could soon be floating on a digital river of music, pictures, and games, positioning itself as a formidable threat and adding to its market dominance.
A very stripped down version could do, but really, who needs OSX on PS3??
